Italian Terrorism in the 1970s: A Historical Perspective on Political Violence and Links to International Terror Networks

The central aim of the present thesis is to provide a historical analysis of the political and social dynamics that occurred during the period of Italian terrorism from the end of 1960s to the end of the 1970s, in order to comprehend how a confrontational dynamic characterised by the utilisation of political violence could emerge and evolve within a democratic framework, albeit a nascent one. Concurrently, the thesis aims to identify the “terror networks” that characterized the international framework during the specified time period. Specific attention will be directed toward movements emerged in France, Germany, and Portugal, as well as their connections with the Colonels' Regime and the Francoist regime and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The state of the art for the elaboration of the thesis consists in publications of Italian and international historians, mainly published between 2005 and 2023, but relying on the volumes basis of the research in the field of Italian and International terrorism. Secondary sources, particularly those published prior to the year 2000, are supported by consulting recent political and historical academic articles.